Council works to free up parking spots

To help free up parking and make the city more accessible to shoppers and visitors, Council’s amnesty on parking fines will end on 20 July.

While many people have continued to pay for parking, Council hasn’t issued a parking fine for not purchasing a ticket or staying past the time limit since 16 March.

Mayor Bob Manning said as restrictions continue to ease and life returns to normal in the city centre and the busy hospital precinct, it was important Council got the balance right for businesses, shoppers and visitors.

“As workers return to the city, our cafes, restaurants and bars open to more people, elective surgery resumes and tourists come to visit, more and more people will be competing for a park,” Cr Manning said.

“At the height of coronavirus the demand for parking just wasn’t there, hence the parking amnesty.

“Parking fees and time limits are all about making spaces available to more people and helping the retail sector to trade.

“We want to encourage people to come into the CBD and support local retailers, cafes and restaurants.

“It’s Council’s job to balance all these competing needs and the fairest way to do that is by generating vehicle turnover. Parking fees and time limits achieve that.”

Boland’s Centre on-site manager Kay Bullpitt welcomed the reintroduction of parking infringements, which would help customers access businesses and hopefully encourage city workers to use designated parking areas away from shopfronts.

“I understand at the time why Council introduced the parking fine amnesty, but now that things are getting back to normal and more and more people are returning to the city, we need to start freeing up those parking spots outside businesses,” she said.

“For example, we have Vision Australia at the Boland’s Centre, we need to make sure that clients, and especially those people with a disability, can easily access those parking spaces close to the businesses.

“All day parking for city workers is available within five-minutes walking distance of the city centre.”

From 13 July Council will issue warnings to drivers who don’t purchase a ticket or stay beyond the time limit, with fines resuming on 20 July.

Residents are reminded that centre median parking in the CBD is always free, with time limits, and heavily discounted all-day parking is available at several of Council’s off-street car parks, including the Lake Street multistorey car park.

Council has also resolved not to implement the 20c an hour increase on parking fees that was due to come into effect on 2 January 2021.

There are approximately 3000 parking spaces in the CBD, of which about 830 are free, although they are time limited.